Destination VLADIVOSTOK
It was our 40th wedding anniversary, and Maggie and I were trying to decide on a suitable way to celebrate this milestone when a Facebook message popped up from Miles Nadin of Thai Motorcycle Tours – we had toured with Miles in northern Thailand a few years ago. It turned out Miles’s mate Paul Hanley had recently taken over Asian Motorcycle Adventures and they were organising a trip from Chiang Mai to Vladivostok. This was it – 9000 miles through Thailand, Laos, China, Eastern Tibet, Mongolia and Russia was a fitting way to celebrate 40 years together. We had to go (before we got too old).
In Chiang Mai on the eve of departure I dropped into a bar not far from our hotel. “Hi, you must be Mike,” said a complete stranger, “I’m Tim.” Tim, from Wollongong, New South Wales, was part of our group, along with Kin Waigand from Salt Lake City and Paul of Asia Motorcycle Adventures while Miles and his wife Bpuck would be with us as far as the Chinese border. It was a small group, slimmed down after cancellations. The
